Education abroad lets you see home in new light
- Source: Global Times
- [22:26 August 25 2009]
- Comments
GT: How does CET promote China overseas?
Lenhart: While CET makes an effort to distinguish its China programs from the competitors' programs, we really don't have to do much to promote China as a destination. Students know from the news, classes and friends that China is a fascinating place of contradictions and change. This is very exciting for me.
When I was a student in the mid- 1980s, it was difficult to find China in the US media or even as a subject in my college classes. Now there is something about China on the front page of the Wall Street Journal every day.
It is not CET's job to represent China as traditional or modern. Instead, we try to expose students to as much as we can about China, and we try to give them the tools they need to make their own connections and to learn from their Chinese teachers and peers.
We have programs that offer students courses taught in English about China. These courses focus on a variety of topics, including Chinese history, China's economy, and Chinese society.
Some of our faculty members are Chinese, and some are from other parts of the world, so they offer a variety of perspectives. No matter what their own views are, they try to present information about China objectively so that students can draw their own conclusions.
I personally find it fascinating to see how “traditional China” is presented to foreigners, just as I'm interested in how Americans represent the US to outsiders.
I've watched Peking Opera performances dozens of times, but the audience for these performances is nearly entirely foreign.
If foreigners did not visit China, would Peking Opera become a thing of the past?
Similarly, ethnic minorities in Yunnan Province have made a concerted effort to preserve and present their traditional culture to tourists from both abroad and China's urban areas. If tourism did not exist, would these traditions survive?
I think it's interesting to consider how everyday people represent their own culture. I hope our students think critically about these questions, and that they discuss them with their Chinese friends.
GT: According to the students' feedback, have their China experiences changed their original perspectives and how?
Lenhart: Students often write to me that China “changed their lives.” They don't always elaborate, but I think the changes I've described above are at the heart of what changes. They come home with a deeper understanding of China and the US.
In addition, many experience tremendous personal growth – they develop new levels of independence and confidence, and they start to think more broadly about “how to learn.”
Happily, most of our students also return home with lasting friendships with Chinese students. They all make an effort to maintain and renew these friendships when they stay in China after they graduate.
China also changed my life. Of course it was a completely different place when I first studied here in 1987. But my experience was not unlike what our students experience today. I made incredible friendships with Chinese students, I traveled more in China than I had ever in the US, and I had the privilege of meeting and learning from Chinese people from all walks of life.
I knew when I finally left China in 1992 that I would commit myself to promoting US-China educational exchange, and I've been very fortunate to be able to make a career out of this commitment.
GT: What suggestions do you have for those who deeply want to know about China, but don't have a way to get here?
Lenhart: I think that most Americans can find ways to get to China, even if they face difficult economic constraints. There are more and more scholarships and loans available to students who wish to study overseas.
Since I believe that there really is nothing quite like studying in China, even for a very short time, my advice to those who face these barriers is to find ways around them.
